In another natural or call it man-made tragedy, wildfires have struck California with about 10,000 acres already under the cover of fire. This time the wildfires have struck Ventura County.

Hundreds of people have been forced to
evacuate with reports claiming the death of one person as well and two buildings
being gutted because of the fire.

In
Focus

However, the impact on natural life and
environment is assumed to be massive, given the amount of area under fire. The
person who lost his life, died in a traffic accident on a road close to the
fire. Reports have also claimed that the authorities are pushing for evacuation
in nearby residential areas as the winds are pushing the fire towards such
areas. Also, authorities have ordered closure of certain highways to avoid
further loss of life. Electricity supply has also been affected after the fire
torched a main supply line in the region.

The Public Information Officer of the Ventura County's Fire
Department said that mandatory evacuations had been ordered for East Ventura
and that "Fire fighter's priorities are structured defence and evacuation of residences
north of foothill road in the city of Santa Paula." Authorities have also pressed
helicopters into service to douse the vast spreading fire.

The bush fire that has been named as Thomas Fire has been
strengthened by the blowing winds whose speed has gone as high as 40 to 60
miles per hour. Though the strong winds are expected to continue, authorities
of the state have claimed that they will be able to contain the fire by today
evening.

What makes these fires even more
unfortunate is that they were allegedly set by a suspect who had stolen a
vehicle and later torched it. The person has been arrested, but the fire had
started spreading by then.